# Quality Score

Quality Score is Google Ads' 1-to-10 diagnostic rating per keyword based on three signals: expected click-through rate, ad relevance to the query, and landing page experience. It is a backward-looking calculated metric, improving it requires improving the three input signals; it cannot be set or bid directly.

Canonical: https://myleadsfactory.com/glossary/quality-score

## In depth

- Score 7+ is healthy; 5-6 is average; 4 or below indicates structural ad-keyword-landing-page mismatch.
- A one-point Quality Score lift typically reduces CPC by 10-15% on the affected keyword, because Ad Rank multiplies bid by Quality Score in the auction formula.
- Performance Max does NOT expose keyword-level Quality Score because PMax doesn't bid on keywords. Asset Strength is the closest PMax equivalent.
- Landing Page Experience component is increasingly weighted by Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) since 2024, slow pages are capped at Quality Score 5-6 even with perfect ad copy.

## Common misconception

Quality Score is not a ranking factor in the live auction; Ad Rank is. Quality Score is a diagnostic display of historical performance. Obsessing over the number itself is cargo-cult optimization; fix the three input components and Quality Score follows.

Source: [Google Ads: About Quality Score](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6167118)

## Related terms

- https://myleadsfactory.com/glossary/smart-bidding
- https://myleadsfactory.com/glossary/performance-max
- https://myleadsfactory.com/glossary/core-web-vitals